Listing Photos: Truth in Advertising

An example of one of my listing photos

Many Real Estate Agents are not good photographers, but learn to be better. Part of our job is to take photos of our listings, and to show those homes in the best possible light. I think that is a great goal, as we are marketing homes – and trying to appeal to the Buyer who is making their choice to view a property solely on the photos we present online. But is it truth in advertising?

Tonight I showed two houses, the Client expressed certain expectations based on the photos he saw online. The photos shown, versus the reality of the properties was remarkable. The first house was a foreclosure, the condition was awful, and had it been properly represented we would never have been there, but the listing agent (or the Sellers) elected to show old photos. The expectations then for the second property were that those photos would also “falsely” represent the house.

The second home showed beautifully, the photos were true to the property, or even didn’t represent it as well as it could have (it can be awfully difficult to photograph a home sometimes). The client was so impressed with the second home, we will likely make a repeat visit and I suspect it will be the house his family chooses to call their own.

The lesson in this is one I want to consider, and to have you consider too. We are marketers, we are responsible for creating and showing a package to entice a Buyer to look at our listing, but is it fair to completely misrepresent the current condition with old photos? Is it fair to retouch a photo with a software application? Or do we want to paint a real picture?

I am usually fortunate enough that my camera takes wonderful photos (it doesn’t hurt that I took photography at The School of Visual Arts in college), a great Sony High-Def 10 megapixel camera I got specifically for Real Estate – the photos are always stunny, but represent the houses well. I believe in truth in advertising, and don’t want to disappoint a Buyer or my Seller client.

So what do you think about Listing Photos? Should they be current? Should they be best portrayal? Should they be the truth? Or how do you feel?

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The Reality of the Open House

A Vacant House

Whenever I take a new listing one of the first questions I am asked by a Seller client is will I do an Open House.  The answer to that question is often a question, “Do you want an Open House?”  Often the answer is no, as many Sellers are already aware that their neighbors are just chomping at the bit the second the For Sale sign goes up to get in their home and size it up.

Some Sellers don’t care, some don’t want their neighbors potentially rifling through their dresser drawers or medicine cabinets, and desperately decline the option.  For those Sellers who do want the Open House, my follow up question is, “What do you expect the results of an open house will be?”  The answer is often a pensive stare, and a speechless moment. 

Client expectations of what an Open House does to sell their home, isn’t always in line with the reality of what an Open House does accomplish.  Open Houses typically get the Real Estate agent the opportunity to connect with a prospective Buyer Client.  I believe the statistic I had read most recently was that less than 4% of properties sell as a result of an Open House (when I asked the question on Twitter, Rob Marchitti replied that it was 5%). So the Seller expectations that the Open House will be the miracle solution to the sale of their property is a disappointing, not usually.

So as a Seller, are you really motivated to sell your home?  If so then you need to look at other factors in the Sale and seek solutions there.  Here is what I tell all my Sellers at the time of listing.

1. Set the price correctly the first time. You don’t want to test the high end of the market in todays economy, you want to be realistic, looking at recent comparables, and pricing 1-3% below the last comparable property, to accomplish a quick sale.  I also tell my Sellers if they don’t have traffic or an offer in the first two weeks, they need to be aggressive in price adjustments.
2. Curb Appeal is important. The first impression is the one the Buyer gets when they arrive at your home. Take the time to make your home appear fresh, exciting and clean. Even if you have the most beautiful home on the interior, a grubby exterior will turn them away every time.
3. Photos matter! Your Real Estate Agent should have great photos on the MLS and other peripheral sites. Lighting is important, using a flash is essential, and today High Definition cameras make all the difference. I do caution you that the photos should well represent your home – dropping them into Photoshop to color adjust or edit isn’t a solution.  I post all my pictures without any adjustments (unless I need to photoshop out your cats tail as it ran thru the shot and I didn’t notice).
4. Be flexible! The Buyer can come when the Buyer can come, if the appointment isn’t ideal for you, find a solution or offer an alternative. A motivated Seller will clear the path for a motivated Buyer.
5. Offer a Home Warranty.  These help with todays Buyers a lot, they make a Buyer feel more comfortable about putting more money into a house at purchase, and not worrying about reserves.  The other great offer with most is that you have Sellers coverage, and if the Buyer finds a defect at inspection it might well be covered by your Home Warranty.

So – before you tell me to sit in your house, and host an open house, before I call 300 neighbors, knock the doors, post the listing, and do all that – knowing the likelihood on a beautiful July Sunday that no one will show up is extremely high, consider whether you have put your best foot forward in all the other ways.

No, I didn’t really want to go to the pool with my Family today did I?

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So You Want to Sell Your House?

I was showing a house in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania yesterday, I arrived a few minutes early, my Buyers were going to be about 10 minutes late.  The Sellers were still at the house. I knew I had scheduled the appointment, and hoped they would make themselves scarce rather quickly.

When you attempt to Sell a house, the hardest part for many homeowners is making the psychological transition from home to house. It is your home, but you are selling a house. That emotional disconnect is nearly impossible for many, and it is what causes the most strife and discord during a real estate transaction.

There are certain things I ask all my Seller clients to do, and consider, when preparing to Sell their homes, and I want to share those with you – whether you are a prospective Seller, a Real Estate Agent, or just curious about Real Estate.

Steps for a Successful Sale
1. It might be your home, but you are selling a house. Disconnect the best you can, realize that a home can be anywhere, you will have a new home, but if you are emotionally attached to your house, you will not have the smoothest business transaction.
2. De-personalize the house.  Remove all your personalize photos from the house. It is difficult for a Buyer to attach to a house when they are looking at your personal photos and considering how lovely your wedding/baby/graduation photos are. Let them get emotionally attached to the house.
3. De-clutter. Show them the house, if they have to try to imagine what is behind the oversized sofa, then perhaps you aren’t presenting the house, but the sofa. No one lives like they do when they stage a house for sale, but that is why we have storage places. I love the houses that clearly have three kids under the age of five with only near and tidy toy rooms, I can only imagine those parents ripping their hair out before every showing.
4. Get out during ALL showings. Short of a sleeping infant, a broken leg, of someone who is infirmed and can’t leave, get out of the house at all costs.  This means if you must put your children into their car seats and drive the neighborhood, or rull Grandpa in his wheel chair onto the patio for 15 minutes, do it. The Buyers need to be able to relax and “feel” the house, to get that connection. It is the territorial nature of it, the Buyer feels as though they are intruding, bothering, inconveniencing the Seller, and you must permit complete comfort.

The Sellers didn’t leave until we got to the door yesterday, and that actually worked well in this instance, as the Buyers and Sellers seemed to have a quick polite connection, and the Seller was charming and disarming, apologizing for getting the time wrong.  I suspect she didn’t, but sometimes curiosity gets the better of you, and convenience wins.

I know someone will bring this up, so let me say it now – some Real Estate Agents aren’t exactly punctual, and leaving your home with children in tow, or under other circumstances, for an hour or more can be rather inconvenient.  I tell my clients in that position – leave as the Buyer arrives, slipping out the back door, or through the garage, as inconspicuously as possible.  If you are an Agent, try to stick to your time window, and if running toward the latter half of the window I like to call the appointment center as a courtesy to notify the homeowners.

The result of taking these steps, getting you more money for your house.  It is what I do.

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More Compact

As I made my journey from my home, to and through the airport and then sat on my flight from Philadelphia to Salt Lake City today, enroute to San Jose, I encountered a number of situations which reminded me the importance of finding the fun and humor in every aspect of life, the simpler things.

People take their lives, and the demands of being an adult in 2010 far too seriously. We don’t live anymore, we live to work! To provide for our families, to maintain the presumed status quo. Who sets the rules?

Far too many people lose sight of what we all wanted as kids – just to have fun. I recognize life isn’t that simple, but I think it is high time to bring the simple back to life.

Take 30 minutes and do the following, more time if you need it. You must be brutally honest with yourself to suceed with this exercise. Use a pen and paper and write the answers down for future review.

1. When are you your happiest and most joyful in your life – the here and now?

2. What in your life is the least like you thought it would be? Does that disappoint you?

3. What do you most want to change in your life but feel unable to change? What prevents that change?

4. If you could have a clean slate right now and paint your ideal life for tomorrow what would that look like? (Include people, places, work, as if describe the life you desire to live).

5. Realistically – what one thing can you do right now to make your life simpler?

I know someone who did a similar exercise and admitted they didn’t want to be a parent, and didn’t want to have a spouse. They found a solution to make their life better, simpler – more joyous.

That kind of honesty is tough. Can you really dig that deep?

I did this myself a while ago, and keep revising my list. I think it is a lot like what I went through as I packed my bag last night – the bag got too heavy, and too much of a burden in size. I kept trying to make adjustments, but just felt it wasn’t going to work with that bag (it also had a broken rail). I grabbed a smaller bag, removed the things that were “complicating” the process and moved everything else to the small, more compact bag.

Isn’t it time to make your life smaller and more compact?

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